Richard Leon Wilbern, Credit Union Robbery and Murder, New York 2003

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Richard Leon Wilbern Sentenced to Life in Prison for Credit Union Robbery and Murder

Rochester, N.Y. – Richard Leon Wilbern has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the August 12, 2003 armed robbery of the Xerox Federal Credit Union, which resulted in the death of Raymond Batzel.

According to court documents, on August 12, 2003, Wilbern walked into the Xerox Federal Credit Union, located on the Xerox Corporation campus in Webster, NY, and told an employee that he was there to conduct a security assessment and to “stage” a robbery. Wilbern then shot customer Raymond Batzel in the neck which resulted in his death. A second customer, Joseph Doud, was shot and wounded as he attempted to run outside after witnessing the shooting.

Wilbern subsequently fled the credit union with a bag of money but left behind an umbrella. The DNA from the umbrella was matched to a DNA sample obtained from Wilbern after he licked and sealed an envelope during a meeting with FBI agents in 2016.

Wilbern was convicted of the crime on November 8, 2019, following a five-week trial. He was sentenced to life in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa on September 22, 2020.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Webster Police Department, the New York State Police, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, the Rochester Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Douglas E. Gregory and Joel L. Violanti.

The appeal of Wilbern’s conviction and sentence was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine A. Gregory represented the government on appeal.